Paul Levitz joins Boom Studios' board of directors

Boom Studios said Friday that it's turning to Paul Levitz, a comics industry veteran, to join its board of directors.

The Los Angeles-based publisher of titles including "Fairy Quest" and "Suicide Risk" announced the move at the annual ComicsPRO retailers' membership meeting in Atlanta.

Levitz, 57, is a writer, editor and publisher of comics, whose runs on DC Comics' "Legion of Super-Heroes" and the current "World's Finest" are critical and commercial successes.

Besides writing and editing, Levitz was DC's youngest-ever editor and, ultimately, rose to be its president and publisher.

Ross Richie, Boom's founder and chief executive, called Levitz a "luminary" whose addition to the board is "a huge vote of confidence" for the publisher.

"Paul brings a wealth of knowledge unparalleled in our industry, which will help us get to the next level," Richie said.

Levitz said joining Boom Studios' board appealed to him because it gives him the chance to parlay his experience in the industry while working with the nine-year-old publisher.

"Boom is an interesting company in an interesting time," Levitz said, adding that its success in having titles jump the divide into film is indicative of the "creatively fertile" wave across the industry.

"The comics medium has broken out of its boundaries in America. I've been involved with comics as a fan and a professional in so many different jobs for about 45 years now, almost," he said. "I don't think there's any period in comics that has been as creatively fertile as we are now."

He'll assist and consult with the publisher on various ideas, topics and pursuits.

"I've gone out to Los Angeles enough times in my life, I kind of know the way with my eyes closed," he said, adding that his role as "a gray-haired adviser is to be the voice on the telephone to be able to say 'Yeah, we solved that one 42 years ago this way.'"

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Moore reported from Philadelphia. Follow him on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/mattmooreap